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Is Well-being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?

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Author Info
Blanchflower, David G. (Dartmouth College, USA, University of Stirling, NBER, IZA, CESifo and Member, Monetary Policy Committee Bank of England)
Oswald, Andrew J. (Department of Economics, University of Warwick UK)

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Abstract

We present evidence that psychological well-being is U-shaped through life. A difficulty with research on this issue is that there are likely to be omitted cohort effects (earlier generations may have been born in, say, particularly good or bad times). First, using data on 500,000 randomly sampled Americans and West Europeans, the paper designs a test that can control for cohort effects. Holding other factors constant, we show that a typical individual’s happiness reaches its minimum -- on both sides of the Atlantic and for both males and females -- in middle age. Second, evidence is provided for the existence of a similar U-shape through the life-course in East European, Latin American and Asian nations. Third, a U-shape in age is found in separate well-being regression equations in 72 developed and developing nations. Fourth, using measures that are closer to psychiatric scores, we document a comparable well-being curve across the life cycle in two other data sets : (i) in GHQ-N6 mental health levels among a sample of 16,000 Europeans, and (ii) in reported depression and anxiety levels among 1 million U.K. citizens. Fifth, we discuss some apparent exceptions, particularly in developing nations, to the U-shape. Sixth, we note that American male birth-cohorts seem to have become progressively less content with their lives. Our paper’s results are based on regression equations in which other influences, such as demographic variables and income, are held constant.

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Paper provided by University of Warwick, Department of Economics in its series The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) with number 826.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:wrk:warwec:826

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Related research
Keywords: Happiness ; aging ; well-being ; GHQ ; cohorts ; mental-health ; depression ; life-course;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2000. "Well-Being Over Time in Britain and the USA," NBER Working Papers 7487, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Gerlach, Knut & Stephan, Gesine, 1996. "A paper on unhappiness and unemployment in Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 325-330, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Andrew E. Clark & Yannis Georgellis, 2002. "Unemployment Alters the Set-Point for Life Satisfaction," Economics and Finance Discussion Papers 02-16, Economics and Finance Section, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. David Bell & David G. Blanchflower, 2007. "The Scots May Be Brave But They Are Neither Healthy Nor Happy," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(2), pages 166-194, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2007. "Hypertension and Happiness across Nations," NBER Working Papers 12934, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Carol Graham, 2005. "Insights on Development from the Economics of Happiness," World Bank Research Observer, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 201-231.
  7. Oswald, Andrew J & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2007. "Obesity, Unhappiness, and The Challenge of Affluence : Theory and Evidence," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 793, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Paul Frijters & John P. Haisken-DeNew & Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Money Does Matter! Evidence from Increasing Real Income and Life Satisfaction in East Germany Following Reunification," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 730-740, June. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Oswald, Andrew J. & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2008. "Does happiness adapt? A longitudinal study of disability with implications for economists and judges," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1061-1077, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Blanchflower, D.G. & Oswald, A.J., 1998. "The Rising Well-Being of the Young," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 519, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
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  12. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2005. "Unhappiness and Crime: Evidence from South Africa," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 72(3), pages 531-547, 08. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Rafael Di Tella & Robert J. MacCulloch & Andrew J. Oswald, 2001. "Preferences over Inflation and Unemployment: Evidence from Surveys of Happiness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 335-341, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Oswald, A.J., 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," Papers 18, Centre for Economic Performance & Institute of Economics.
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  15. Hayo, Bernd & Seifert, Wolfgang, 2003. "Subjective economic well-being in Eastern Europe," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 329-348, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Gardner, Jonathan & Oswald, Andrew J., 2006. "Money and Mental Wellbeing : A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 754, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Frijters, Paul & Haisken-DeNew, John P. & Shields, Michael A., 2005. "The causal effect of income on health: Evidence from German reunification," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 997-1017, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Rafael Di Tella & Robert J. MacCulloch & Andrew J. Oswald, 2003. "The Macroeconomics of Happiness," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 809-827, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Blanchflower, David G., 2001. "Unemployment, Well-Being, and Wage Curves in Eastern and Central Europe," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 364-402, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-59, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J. & Warr, Peter B., 1994. "Is job satisfaction u-shaped in age ?," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 9407, CEPREMAP.
  22. Andrew E. Clark & Andrew J. Oswald, 2006. "The curved relationship between subjective well-being and age," PSE Working Papers 2006-29, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  23. Winkelmann, Liliana & Winkelmann, Rainer, 1998. "Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy? Evidence from Panel Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 65(257), pages 1-15, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Michael A. Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price, 2005. "Exploring the economic and social determinants of psychological well-being and perceived social support in England," Journal Of The Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 168(3), pages 513-537. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Edward L. Glaeser & David Laibson & Bruce Sacerdote, 2002. "An Economic Approach to Social Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(483), pages 437-458, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Van Landeghem, Bert & Swinnen, Johan & Vranken, Liesbet, 2008. "Land and Happiness: Land Distribution and Subjective Well-Being in Moldova," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44375, European Association of Agricultural Economists. [Downloadable!]
  2. David G. Blanchflower, 2007. "Is Unemployment More Costly Than Inflation?," NBER Working Papers 13505, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Das, Sanghamitra & Mukhopadhyay, Abhiroop & Ray, Tridip, 2008. "Negative Reality of the HIV Positives: Evaluating Welfare Loss in a Low Prevalence Country," MPRA Paper 9946, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Richard A. Easterlin & Onnicha Sawangfa, 2007. "Happiness and Domain Satisfaction: Theory and Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 2584, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Sanghamitra Das & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay & Tridip Ray, 2007. "Integrating mental health in welfare evaluation: An Empirical application," Indian Statistical Institute, Planning Unit, New Delhi Discussion Papers 07-06, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Andrew E. Clark & Andrew J. Oswald, 2006. "The curved relationship between subjective well-being and age," PSE Working Papers 2006-29, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  7. Francesco Figari & Herwig Immervoll & Horacio Levy & Holly Sutherland, 2007. "Inequalities within Couples: Market Incomes and the Role of Taxes and Benefits in Europe," SOEPpapers 74, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Eva M. Berger, 2008. "A Note on the High Stability of Happiness: The Minimal Effects of a Nuclear Catastrophe on Life Satisfaction," SOEPpapers 109, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Andrew E. Clark, 2007. "Born To Be Mild? Cohort Effects Don’t (Fully) Explain Why Well-Being Is U-Shaped in Age," IZA Discussion Papers 3170, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  10. Bert G.M. Van Landeghem, 2008. "Human Well-Being over the Life Cycle: Longitudinal Evidence from a 20-Year Panel," LICOS Discussion Papers 21308, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  11. David Madden, 2007. "An Analysis of Mental Stress in Ireland, 1994-2000," Working Papers 200710, School Of Economics, University College Dublin. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Yannis Georgellis & Nicholas Tsitsianis & Ya Ping Yin, 2007. "Income and Happiness across Europe: Do Reference Values Matter?," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Sule Alan & Kadir Atalay & Thomas F. Crossley, 2008. "The Adequacy of Retirement Savings: Subjective Survey Reports by Retired Canadians," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 34(s1), pages 95-118, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Eva M. Berger, 2007. "The Power of Monthly Data in the GSOEP: How the Chernobyl Catastrophe Affected People's Life Satisfaction and Environmental Concerns," SOEPpapers 73, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
  15. Paul Frijters & Tony Beatton, 2008. "The mystery of the U-shaped relationship between happiness and age," NCER Working Paper Series 26, National Centre for Econometric Research. [Downloadable!]
  16. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald & Bert Van Landeghem, 2008. "Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility," NBER Working Papers 14337, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. Felicia A. Huppert & Nic Marks & Andrew E. Clark & Johannes Siegrist & Alois Stutzer & Joar Vittersø & Morten Wahrendorf, 2008. "Measuring well-being across Europe: Description of the ESS Well-being Module and preliminary findings," PSE Working Papers 2008-40, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  18. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2008. "Happiness over the life cycle: exploring age-specific preferences," MPRA Paper 7302, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  19. Blanchflower, David G. & Lawton, Helen, 2008. "The Impact of the Recent Expansion of the EU on the UK Labour Market," IZA Discussion Papers 3695, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  20. Blanchflower, David G., 2008. "International Evidence on Well-being," IZA Discussion Papers 3354, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  21. David Madden, 2008. "Gender Differences in Mental Well-Being - A Decomposition Analysis," Working Papers 200803, School Of Economics, University College Dublin. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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